IRISH MMA: JOHN KAVANAGH PRAISES FIRST LOCAL MMA SHOW TO INTRODUCE BRAIN SCANS

(London.28th October.2016) Cage Legacy Fighting Championship 1 continues the outstanding progress made by Irish clubs and promotions in upholding the new benchmark for medical clearance of professional athletes in MMA.

For tonight’s event at the TLT Theatre in Drogheda, Cage Legacy has voluntarily worked to adhere to the guidelines of the Irish Mixed Martial Arts Association and its medical arm, Safe MMA -Ireland in requiring all its professional competitors to undergo MRI/ MRAs of the brain and neck as well as specialist eye-tests. All competitors on the card (including Amateurs) have will have undergone annual medical examinations and tests for blood borne viruses, verified independently by Safe MMA.

John Kavanagh, President of the Irish Mixed Martial Arts Association, said:

”As president of IMMAA I would like to personally congratulate Declan and the crew at Cage Legacy for their absolute commitment to fighter safety. I’m sure it’ll be an excellent night of exciting fights and serve as a great example to the smaller shows how to work with both Safe MMA and IMMAA in order to get their show recognised at the highest levels. Well done guys!’
Safe MMA-Ireland founder, International Mixed Martial Arts Federation medical committee chairman and consultant neurologist, Professor Dan Healy, said:

“On behalf of Safe MMA and IMMAF, we thank the organisers for tremendous sub rosa efforts putting fighter safety as first priority. This includes proper annual pre-fight medicals, blood tests and formal eye tests and MRI scans for professional bouts. Once again muintir h’Ealaíona Comhraic Measctha na hÉireann demonstrate that professionalism in the staging of events can match the professionalism of the young men and women that compete.”

Safe MMA issued the following statement:

“The Cage Legacy team has set a commendable example in its commitment and above-and-beyond approach to ensuring all competitors meet Safe MMA-Ireland clearance criteria. Following the very high standard set recently by Battlezone, Cage Legacy continues the outstanding progress made by local Irish clubs. As Cage Legacy will be the first local MMA promoter to host professional bouts under Ireland’s enhanced medical requirements, the promotion has worked extremely hard to get its fight card over the line, from submitting it’s initial card 4 months in advance of the event to demonstrating an unerring commitment to safety in the face of various challenges. There is a lot of work that goes into the medical clearance of competitors in the run up to an event, and the Cage Legacy team has been incredibly pro-active and engaged with Safe MMA throughout. We would like to thank Cage Legacy for setting a standard and also its fighters, coaches and managers who have complied to make this a success.”

See below for the full list of the 20 Professional and Amateur competitors who have been SafeMMA and SafeMMA+ cleared to compete at Cage Legacy 1: